In the cover of darkness, the four of them unloaded it from the truck. The sculpture was over six feet tall, weighed 250 pounds, and was awkward to maneuver to the ground.

“It was supposed to be four young guys doing the dirty work,” said Steve Moulton, owner of Bubba’s Books. “But it was just me, Dore (Capitani), and another 40ish friend of his. A young passerby stopped and put down his beer to help us.”

All of this was for the love of public art.

At 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, July 14, Idyllwild received another public art piece by Dore Capitani, a metal sculptor from Dore’s Mountain Metals, in Mountain Center.

This sculpture was the second of a series of public art sculptures promised to the people of Idyllwild by the Chamber of Commerce. The first one, depicting a young girl reading a book, is placed at the site of the former tree monument. It was also created by Capitani.

The first public art piece promotes children's literacy and is placed at the site of the former tree monument

“I purchased that one for Idyllwild,” admitted Moulton. “And it’s not just a young girl, it’s Mary, Doug Austin’s wife, who passed away.”

On Mary’s sculpture, it states that it’s dedicated to children’s literacy. There’s also text written in other languages, but the book that Mary is reading is a classic, “Great Expectations.”

Moulton and Capitani met because they’re both Chamber members.

“I went to ask Dore to renew his Chamber membership,” said Moulton. “And the next thing I know, I’m unloading a 250-pound sculpture from a truck at night.”

The new sculpture sits in front of Mountain Footwear in the Fort on North Circle Drive. Richard, who owns it, agreed to host the sculpture on his property.

“Richard was supposed to be here too, but he forgot,” Moulton quipped.

Moulton is concerned that the half sphere will invite kids to hang on it

The new sculpture depicts one of Capitani’s “signature” spheres suspended in the middle of a large, rusted metal shape that slants a little to the left. The sphere is powder-coated vibrant red (a new technique).

But the sphere is not complete, and that’s what concerns Moulton. He thinks that the half sphere will be an “invitation” for kids to hang on it, and perhaps break it. Capitani, who’d like to sell the piece he calls, “P1” is also concerned about vandalism.

More than likely, it will be used as another “photo op” for visitors to Idyllwild.

At the sculpture site, there isn’t any description of “P1” or information about the artist, although it’s signed “Dore” at the bottom, if you look for it.

Capitani leaves it up to each viewer interpret his art as he or she sees fit. Whatever it represents, it’s an attractive and welcome site to Idyllwild, “One of America’s 100 Best Art Towns.”

Well, one artist in Mountain Center is speaking out about the current state of traffic around his metal sculpture garden.

There’s too many motorcycle accidents happening there, he said.

About two years ago, CalTrans, along with a contractor, attempted to fix the curve on the road from Mountain Center leading up to Idyllwild. They widened the road and added caution stripping to the middle, but many accidents still happen there.

“They fixed the road, so people think they can go faster now,” said Dore Capitani, a metal sculptor whose shop sits at the end of the curve. He closes his eyes and sighs. He’s seen his share of motorcycle accidents.

One time, he said, the motorcycle rode right onto his property, near his metal building where he was working.

“The guy fell off it earlier, but the motorcycle came pretty fast around the curve and landed on my property,” Capitani said.

After a motorcycle flew into his yard, Dore put up a wooden barrier

After that, he wasn’t taking any chances. With the help of Josh Whitney, who owns a tree cutting business in Idyllwild, they stacked up several huge wooden tree trunks that act as a barrier to his property. It kept the motorcycles from coming in, but didn’t stop the accidents from happening.

So last week, Capitani decided to put up a life-sized metal sculpture of a crashed motorcycle and attach it to the wooden tree stumps.

“I had an old junker motorcycle, and about three wheels laying around,” Capitani said. “So I made a crash sculpture.”

Well, some Idyllwild townsfolk and at least one CHP officer thought it was real, and became alarmed.

Some motorcyclists told Dore that they didn't like the sculpture

“One police officer came over the wood pile looking for the body,” Capitani said. “These guys are used to fighting crime, but he couldn’t see that the motorcycle was welded to the wood!”

“Then Larry from the hardware store said that I better add something to the sculpture because people were concerned,” Capitani added. “So I added the word, ‘OUCH!'”

“Ouch!” is welded next to the motorcycle in bright, red letters, so there’s no more confusion. But there’s still bad feelings.

He said that several motorcyclists have stopped by his art garden and said they weren’t happy with his sculpture.

“They don’t have to like it,” Capitani said.

He hopes that it might make a few motorcyclists and drivers stop and think about going too fast on that curve. It’s clearly marked “25 mph” on either end, but most of them go 50 mph.

One CHP officer, who was assigned up in Idyllwild for years, grew weary of the motorcycle accidents. When he was writing up a report about one, he asked the kid how fast he was going. The kid, who had a broken leg, didn’t lie.

That motorcyclist was lucky that he only sustained a leg injury, but his bike was “totalled.”

Dore's art garden has many more sculptures to see

Capitani’s motorcycle crash sculpture is located just after the curve in Mountain Center at 28815 Hwy. 243. Visit Dore’s Mountain Metals Sculpture Garden for other large metal and wood sculptures made by him or call (951) 659-0791.